Friday, October 30, 2015

Today I had booked a class with Pam Clarke for Free Form quilting on the Long Arm quilting machine. I wasn't sure if I would manage to last for the 8 hours especially as we only had an hour break for lunch. I had also arranged to meet Grit from Germany as her fabulous quilt, La Passion, was hanging at the International Quilt Festival and she was going to be here as well. I was a bit worried I'd miss Grit as I wasn't sure where her quilt was hanging and I was just hoping to find it quickly.
Imagine my surprise when a quilter took the last seat in the classroom, next to me, and it was Grit. We were so happy to finally meet and I couldn't believe my luck in her finding me. In the lunch break we went down to where La Passion is hanging and met with Margun from Norway. We had some photos taken in front of Grit's fabulous quilt and it was wonderful to see it up close.
Pam Clarke's class was excellent as well and I learnt lots of hints on how to free motion quilt using the long arm. I don't actually have one but the ideas are transferable to using on my domestic sewing machine as well. It was a long day but I was really happy to have taken the class and now I just need to practice and make sure I continue to develop my skills.
Tomorrow I'm taking another bus tour to the Texas Quilt Museum. Unfortunately my time here is almost over and I'll soon be back home after so many wonderful experiences.
Hugs, Jan Mac

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Well today was a bus tour on the Pink Panther to Old Town Spring to see some quaint village shops. It was relaxing to wander around the town, visiting two quilt shops and lots of antique and gift shops.
Lunch included the largest diet coke I have seen and a lovely lunch of grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, corn and beans. I had a lovely time chatting with lots of other quilters.
From there things took a strange turn. We visited a Funeral Museum which even had a gift shop! The smell, as we entered the building, was not pleasant but there was nothing else of interest in the area. There were displays of the Presidential funerals, with the exception of Nixon. It was a somber conclusion to the day, which was unfortunate but lunch was fun.
Tomorrow I have another 8 hours of classes. I hope I can last the distance.
Hugs, Jan Mac

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

I've been using any spare time I have while traveling to work on my needle turn appliqué. I started the first block when I arrived and finished it last night but it does need a press. I also started the second one and it's progressing well. They are both for my Chester County Criswell quilt and I only have a couple of blocks left to finish.
Yesterday afternoon I took a long arm quilting class with Linda Taylor. I have a short arm machine but the principles are the same. We had exercises in drawing the designs and then hands on practice . Getting sufficient hand control will take more practice but I learnt a lot and hope to improve my skills.
Linda sowed us a 1950s Wedding Ring Quilt which she had machine quilted with different designs in every ring. She used bright green thread so the design would stand out. It wouldn't have been my personal choice for quilting the top but it did show many different designs she likes to quilt.
Lots more fun to be hand before my next blog report. Lol
Hugs, Jan Mac

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Yesterday was very busy as I took a class in the afternoon as well. I've been binding quilts for years but you can always learn new skills and I wanted to use piping on a special quilt. Melody also shared some of her quilts during the class and that's always great fun to share the work of other quilters.
The piece I brought to bind was from a class I took a few years ago. We were supposed to learn about different textile mediums and how to use them to enhance our work. We were allowed to use the tutor's textiles paints and Shiva sticks etc but there was very little instruction provided and I was very disappointed at the wasted opportunity. To me it looked like Hobbytex so It sat in the cupboard until,I need a prepared small quilt to bind. I enjoyed the class and found it easy to stitch and make the piping. I would have achieved a more invisible finish if I used a finer, color matched thread and my own machine as I found it difficult to slow down the speed using the foot pedal.
I'll probably donate this as a small quilt for a child's doll and it does count as another UFO finish for me so it's a win-win.
Hugs, Jan Mac

I had a big day taking two classes yesterday. The first was machine quilting free motion feathers with Sue Rasmussen. As sue's background is as a textile scientist we also learnt about the composition of thread and how to use it effectively. The benefit of Sue's method was that with practice you won't need to pre- mark the feathers but will be able to free motion quilt them, adding additional swirls of feathers from the original stem.
Sue's sample as shown in my first photo, was quilted over wool and doesn't include any trapunto. Using large feathers with smaller filler stitches between them, makes the feathers pop when using wool.
Sue was a lovely teacher, very knowledgeable and I feel like I finally "got it" when quilting feathers without marking. She also had lots of suggestions for troubleshooting problems. We practiced stitching the feathers on paper at first and now I need to practiced so I develop muscle memory and confidence. I can really recommend the class.
Hugs, Jan Mac